Bonds
by Tango Charlie
Summary: Naruto's life till she became a shinobi basically consisted of alternating between being alone, or doing pranks. Sasuke Uchiha's life since he became an orphan consisted of training, training and even more training. But somewhere in between, their paths cross. FemNaruto


**Author's Note:** Yo.

While watching a few old Naruto Shippuden Episodes, particularly EP257, I was hit by a pretty massive inspiration for writing a Fem! Naruto story. I know it's been done quite a lot, but rarely in a non-cliched manner. I hope to really continue this story in a manner which keeps the characters in their own personalities. And changes, if any, would only be gradual.

Note: Fem!Naru's voice will be like that of Lucy in Fairy Tail. Not a big deal, but just saying so you can visualize better!

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Whoever thinks that I do, shout take a pie, turn that sombitch sideways, and shove it straight up their candy ass!**

 **NARUTO**

 **Bonds**

 _Prologue: Start of a Rivalry_

 **(Konohagakure)**

 _ **Seven years after the Kyuubi attack...**_

 _Leaves rustled in the gentle breeze, the birds were chirping melodiously and the Hokage mountain was shining in all its glory. The sky clear, and the cool morning wind blowing, the morning seemed especially good to the people getting up and looking out of their windows._

 _One such man, a shopkeeper, whistled a happy tune as he stretched his arms, "What a beautiful day to open the shop!" The man thought to himself, bending down to open the shutter of his wooden objects shop._

 _The fresh air hitting his face solidified the man's happy mood as he walked outside to dust away the dirt accumulated on the sign board. Waving to his fellow shopkeepers and neighbors, the man then began cleaning the dust, happily noting that most of his shop was now covered in various types of paints, crude drawings and a large 'I Will Be Hokage Dattebayo!' on his costly signboard.. What could possibly go wrong-_

 _Wait. Paint? Crude drawings? Dattebayo?!_

 _His jaw dropping and eyes widening in a perfect display of shock, the man could only stare in disbelief at the way his- no, each and every building as far as he could see had been defaced!_

" _Who could have done this!?" The man screamed, his mind already going overboard by thinking of the time it would take to clean all this off._

 _The others were also quick to notice their own predicaments, with shouts of dismay, and surprised yells coming from every corner of the road._

" _How terrible!"_

" _My precious plants!"_

" _Its all orange!"_

" _Who could have done this!"_

 _A sudden snickering caught the attention of the shell shocked populace. Their eyes drifting towards the gateway to their society, they were met the visage of a grinning whisker marked blonde haired girl. Laughing without shame, and the morning sun behind her making her look like some sort of superhero, the little girl gave them a thumbs up, her blue eyes twinkling with mischief,_

" _Uzumaki Naruto! At your service!" The girl yelled, holding up the bucket of paint for the enraged residents to see. Wearing green colored goggles on her forehead, a white shirt with an orange spiral, and orange colored short, all of which were covered in a rainbow of colors, there was absolutely no doubt as to who was the perpetrator of the prank._

 _Seeing the people getting ready to scream and shout, Naruto jumped off the curved entrance with surprising strength, "I'm going to be Hokage, dattebayo!" Grinning all the while, Naruto made her quick exit, spilling the bucket of red paint on the previously clean road, chuckling as the residents ran after her futilely. Jumping away with her blonde pig tails flying behind, the girl cleared away from the area within seconds, leaving the residents to rage at thin air._

 _Raising a fist threateningly, a bald shopkeeper yelled with clenched teeth, "You won't get away with this!", The others were not further behind,_

" _Come back you brat!"_

" _You will clean this!"_

" _What does becoming Hokage have to do with painting my house?!" Anime tears fell from the man's eyes as he looked at the less than pure words on his door._

" _Damn it, it was her again!" The shopkeeper cursed. Crossing his arms, the man took a look at the ruined walls and windows of the various buildings, "She's made a big mess this time..."_

 _Another one, a young brown haired man, glared, "Even if we want to make a complaint, she doesn't have any parents we can complain to!" Having 'Dattebayo!' written all over his shop had certainly not been a part of his renovation plans._

 _A woman sighed as she looked at the previously see through windows of her shop, "What are we going to do? Who's going to pay for all this?" She groaned as she calculated the cleaning costs of clearing away such thick paint._

" _What a nuisance..."_

" _I'll say... She's so unpleasant..."_

" _Where's the Uchiha Military Police when you need them?"_

" _Yeah..."_

 _OOO_

 _ **Someways ahead...**_

 _Her giggling subsiding, Uzumaki Naruto walked with a grin on her face as the villager's angered shouts reached her ears._

 _Served them right for ignoring her! Jerks._

 _The girl kept her grin as she walked with her hands behind her heads. But after moving a sufficient distance away from the locality, and into a partly deserted street, the girl's smile eventually faded off her face. Looking down to the ground, her thoughts were interrupted by a sudden shout from a nearby house. Taking cover behind a electricity pole, Naruto poked her head out to look at the scene._

" _I'm leaving!" A brown haired boy yelled as he ran out of his home, carrying a backpack with him. But before he could get much further, he was interrupted by a woman that came out of the same house, with a little boy accompanying her._

" _You forgot something, Masaro!" The woman grinned as she handed a bento to her sheepish looking son._

" _Ah! Sorry." The boy chuckled sheepishly, holding his little brother's hand, "What did you make us for lunch?"_

" _I made your favorite, omlettes!" His mother replied with a smile, making the two boys rejoice as they ran towards the school._

 _Hiding behind the electricity pole, Naruto observed all this with eyes that were both sad and hopeful. Her expression downcast, and eyes hidden by the bangs of her hair, if any of the villagers angered by her pranks saw her now they wouldn't see a troublemaker. Naruto's vulnerability was in full display here, but fortunately no one was present to notice. Staring at the family, the blonde girl wondered whether she would ever get people who would care for her, receive her at home when she returned, made breakfast for her._

 _From when she had been very little, Naruto had wondered about how everyone around her seemed to have a family of their own. And even if they didn't, they were adopted sooner or later. "Why don't I have anyone?" Was the question that Naruto asked herself, and everyone who cared to listen._

 _Half baked answers, topic changing, and sad looks were the only answers she got. Well, until the old man told her that her parents died the day the Kyuubi attacked. That was a bummer. But no matter how much Naruto asked, he didn't give up their names, pictures or any information at all really. Also, this didn't explain why no one adopted her._

 _But Naruto could have learnt to live with even all this, what bugged the little girl even more was how every single person she saw, ignored her whenever she was in the open. Being young, the girl could not make heads nor tails of it._

 _Looking for comfort in her peers, Naruto then had to face the ugly truth._

 _Not even the girls and boys around her age wanted to talk to her. All of them were taken away by their parents if they tried to talk to her, and eventually, no kid approached her in fear of being rebuked by parents or secluded by their peers. Making friends with her was not worth losing their parents love and their other friends. Naruto almost made some progress with a pink haired girl and her blonde friend, but even they were quickly called by their parents. They said they would return, but they never did._

 _What was wrong with her? Was he ugly? Did she smell? Was she a bad person? To a young girl of six, all of this was incredibly confusing. She saw how the adults acted around her. The scowls, the sneers, the looks of hate..._

 _For every person, there comes a time when enough is enough. She was a little girl. A girl who read books about family, about friends, desperately hoping to learn something. So much loneliness, only partly broken by the old man and Ichiraku Ramen, was just unbearable to the young girl. An adult would have broken under the pressure, it was a miracle she didn't spend all her time crying._

 _So, she began her pranking. It started out small, such as painting small windows, taking out wheels of carts overnight, but then she started getting good at it. Painting whole localities, turning all apples on a cart into oranges, throwing itching powder in a strange compound where a lot of dogs lived..._

 _The likes._

 _Of course she got reprimanded by the Sandaime each and every time. But Naruto didn't really care. While she told herself that this was all for having fun, deep in her subconscious it was only the desire to be acknowledged in any way possible. From the people, when they shouted at her, and from her jiji, who scolded her._

 _In this she had made her biggest enemies, the Uchiha Military Police. The jerks who tried to catch her, succeeding only a couple of times due to her super awesome skills, and reprimanding her about creating chaos. And then came the worst part._

 _Making her clean it all up!_

 _Still, they weren't actually_ _ **that**_ _mean. Stuffy, but good guys. Also, seeing them all red eyed was so fun!_

" _I wonder why no one showed up today." The girl wondered, mentally making a note to pay the Military Police Headquarters a... 'colorful' visit._

 _Once again, taking a look at all the other houses, and how various kids came out in ones and twos, laughing with their parents, how a mother held her toddler gently while waving to her elder child, and how kids made groups to play, Naruto felt a sharp pain in her heart. Why was there no one for her?_

 _Feeling a sting of tears in her eyes, Naruto quickly wiped her face. Running towards her home, Naruto decided, today might be the day jiji was going to give her allowance, but she was going to make him talk about her parents, whether he liked it, or not!_

OOO

 **One year later...**

 **Konoha Academy...**

The morning sun was up and Konoha Academy gates were overflowing with dozens of parents and children getting ready to enter the academy to take the first step toward their eventual destinies.

Every child, no matter what path he wanted to take, was required to take the shinobi academy course at least until the third year. This was so that every Konoha child could have a physique required of a shinobi, as well as learn to defend themselves at a very basic level.

Standing in two groups at the sandy ground of academy, the parents towards the side, and the aspirants in one, both of the groups faced the elderly figure smiling proudly at the young students. His grayed hair hidden partially by the large red and white hat he was wearing, along with the cloak of similar design, the Sandaime Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, felt much happiness at the young-lings, the future of the village his ancestors had fought so hard to create.

While the instructors introduced themselves to the children, Hiruzen's experienced eye singled out some of the best prospects in the sixty odd group.

The first one, and not surprisingly, was a lazy looking kid with pineapple like hair. Anyone else would have written off the kid as an unmotivated prospect, but then again, Hiruzen was not just anybody. If Shikamaru Nara had inherited even half the intellect possessed by his equally lazy father, he would prove to be an excellent future shinobi of Konoha.

Any shinobi who lived as long as he did knew full well that while strength was indeed needed to win battles, it was mostly brains that won over brawn in case of wars. Skirmishes could be won by a strong jōnin, but a drawn out bloody war could only be won by a brilliant strategist.

The second prospect was a very mysterious looking kid. Mysterious quite literally because of the large trenchcoat, and round black glasses he was wearing. Even a civilian could easily say that the boy was a member of the Aburame clan. Hiruzen knew more specific details. The son of Shibi Aburame, added with how serious he seemed at such a young age, was definite to be a calm and strong shinobi. An excellent combination.

The second to last prospect was the one Hiruzen found himself most intrigued about. Spiky black hair, charcoal eyes seriously looking forward, and black overall clothing, the little brother of Itachi Uchiha was definitely resembled his brother. Showing signs of being much ahead of his peers at even such an early age, Sasuke was one to look out for. Hiruzen could also sight the boy's parents, Fugaku and Mikoto in the background.

Strange. He had expected Fugaku to accompany Itachi on his inaugural Anbu mission. Sasuke definitely looked happy at the fact that his father came, with the way the young boy looked back now and then. He was the only Uchiha in this batch, something which Hiruzen noted with much distress. This meant that the next year would contain as many as _seven_ Uchiha kids, and that was something which would cause much headache in team formations.

The last, but definitely not the least was the girl who was the spitting image of Hiruzen's predecessor and someone whom he considered his own kin. Wearing a white shirt with an orange spiral, with orange cargo pants and goggles that hung around her neck, the girl had a very unique look.

And if the wide grin on her face was anything, Naruto Uzumaki looked extremely happy as she stood with full attention besides the Uchiha boy. Her long blonde hair tied in twin pigtails, whiskered cheeks and bright blue eyes made her stand out among the group. Quick and agile, Hiruzen could already say that the girl was miles ahead of her peers in the physical department. Her Uzumaki chakra giving her an insane amount of stamina, and coupled with the Bijju in her gut, made Naruto one of the strongest shinobi prospects. Of course, there was the matter of chakra control, but such advanced things could be dealt with later on.

While these were the _main_ ones, it was not to say that they were the _only_ ones. The clan children were the other most obvious ones. With the children of the current heads of Yamanaka, Akimichi, Inuzuka and the Hyūga, and a couple of kids from the Senju and Sarutobi clans, the particular batch looked to be the best in quite some years.

"Everyone," The academy head, which Hiruzen identified as one Iruka Umino, started in a loud voice, "Please pay attention to Hokage. He is going to say a few words before we start the Academy year!" Iruka said with a smile as he stepped back.

A hush coming to the entire ground, the Hokage smiled as he took his place in the front of the children. His hands folded behind his back, Hiruzen started, "My congratulations to all of you." He said kindly as the children looked at him with their hands folded behind their backs, "You have a lot of hard work ahead of you as you walk the hard path of a shinobi." He said as the students got a serious look on their faces,

"You will have to train hard, listen to your teachers, and study your hardest to become the best shinobi that there is. The life of shinobi is fickle and filled with much honor, but even harder is actually becoming one." He said in a grave tone. Most of the kids were taken aback by the statement. Young as they were, some of them even started losing hope at the Sandaime's words.

But easing their doubts, and making their spirits rise right back up, the Sandaime smiled once again as he turned away, "But I fully believe that you will all become excellent shinobi, and do Konoha proud!"

A loud cheer being his answer, Hiruzen couldn't be happier.

OOO

 **Half an hour later...**

The classroom was filled to the brim. Made in an auditorium style, multiple rows were built one above the other in an ascending manner. While the class was filled with chatter in the beginning, each one of them quieted and stood in their places as their teacher entered the class.

Facing his students, Iruka looked at them with a kind face, "Good morning. My name is Iruka Umino, chunin of Konohagakure, and your homeroom teacher. You may call me Iruka-sensei." Iruka said, with the students nodding, bar a certain one. Seeing one student raise her hand, Iruka nodded with a smile, "Yes?"

"Can't we just call you scar-face-sensei?" Naruto asked, a false innocent look on her face.

A sudden tick mark coming to his face as most of the students snickered, Iruka's fist clenched as he tried to suppress his anger and embarrassment, ' _So, this is what Sandaime warned me about... this girl really is troublesome.'_ "No, you may not!" After more suppressed snickers, and a smug smile from Naruto, Iruka coughed into his hand, before continuing,

"I will be calling out your names, following which you will come to the front and introduce yourselves. After that, we will be starting our first classes." Iruka said as he took out a list from his waist pocket.

"Aburame, Shino!"

And so it went on till Uchiha Sasuke. Excited murmurs grew in the class at the mention of his clan.

Ino had a blush on her face as she whispered to Sakura, "Wow! We have a member of _the_ Uchiha Clan in our class!"

Sakura had a blush on her face as well as she shyly looked at the boy, "And he looks so~ cool!"

Naruto, being who she was, scowled at the attention the Uchiha boy was getting. She didn't see what was special about the boy. And why were those girls freaking out at his second name?

Indifferent to it all, and having an emotionless visage on his face, Sasuke kept his hands in his pockets as he slowly walked down the stairs.

As the boy stood in front of the class with a cool look, most of the female populace stared at him with love struck gazes. Naruto wasted no time in noticing this, and began glaring at the boy who was getting so much attention. Even though he was acting so smug and distant, people liked him! In the book Naruto had read, people liked other people who smiled and acted nice. So why didn't she get such attention?

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha." The boy began his face set in a slight frown, further enhancing his appearance to the girls, "I belong from the Uchiha Clan. I like archery and training. My dream for the future is..." Here, Sasuke actually got a small smile on his face as he announced his dream, "... to activate my Sharingan."

"Sasuke-kun you are so coool!" Was the thought of most of the girls.

"What the heck is a Sharingan?" Was the thought of anyone else.

As he returned to his seat, Sasuke noticed the various reactions he was getting from his classmates. Although he was a bit disturbed at how the girls stared at him with blushes on their face, the boy shrugged it off as something unimportant that girls just did. However, he did notice that the blonde haired girl beside him was glaring at him pretty hard.

"Is there a problem?" Sasuke asked, a bit concerned about whether he had done something wrong to offend the girl. Come to think of it, he hadn't ever seen her before.

But before Naruto could respond, Iruka call with her name came. Sticking her tongue out at the perplexed boy, Naruto made her way down. Fixing her expression into something more acceptable, Naruto stood in front of the class

Fixing them with a wide grin, Naruto gave a victory sign, "Yo! My name is Naruto Uzumaki! And I'm gonna be a Hokage 'ttebayo!"

Immediately, almost half the class broke into laughter, "You, Hokage?! Dream on!" A boy teased from above, "And what's dattebayo?"

"Yeah, Naruto. You can't even get an eighty at the academy entrance exam, how can you ever become a Hokage?" Sakura said with a scoff, with Ino agreeing with her, "Yeah, a Hokage is the best, and doesn't get fifty percent!"

Even Sasuke looked at her with a smirk. What a preposterous thing to shout out!

Her face turning red from embarrassment and anger, Naruto glared at them, "SHUT UP! I WILL BECOME HOKAGE DATTEBAYO!"

With the laughter continuing, and Naruto almost ready to go and start a fight, Iruka decided to take matters into his own hands, "QUIET! All of you, stop picking on Naruto." Iruka ordered sternly.

At his shout, the class did get silent, but still sent smirks towards an enraged Naruto, "Naruto, get back to your seat so that we can start our first lesson." Iruka said to the blonde girl, who nodded stiffly as she began making her way up, only for the bell to ring.

Cursing himself for letting the introduction go on for such a long time, Iruka looked at the kids with an exasperated look, "Alright. Since the bell has rung, the class will go to recess. I expect you all to behave, and not fight!"

Oh, how wrong he was.

OOO

 **A few hours later...**

After a recess in which three fights, four spilled drinks, and five thrown lunches occurred, Iruka finally started his classes. Starting with the basic lessons about what ninjutsu was, and how to weave signs, and whether any of the students already knew some, Iruka showcased the Bunshin and Henge to the class.

Naturally, most of the kids freaked out at seeing their teacher suddenly become two, and even more amazed at seeing him turn into a chair!

Also, one thing became abundantly clear to Iruka during the time he quizzed the class. Sasuke was currently the best student in the batch. Answering every question with a calm and collected voice, showing most of the hand signs correctly, and being the best at grasping things, there was no doubt that he was a budding genius.

The other thing that became even more glaringly clear was that Naruto was currently the worst student in theory. Or at least, the most obvious one. Trying to answer every question Sasuke raised his hand in, and then failing miserably, Naruto was left red faced in jealousy by the end as she made a fool of herself, while Sasuke's curiosity grew even more .

After the classroom period had completed, Iruka made the class go to the sparring ground of the academy. With the girls at one side, and the boys at the other, Iruka smiled as he read off the first assignment.

"Now, instead of just introducing ourselves, I want you all to showcase your basic ninjutsu skills!" Iruka announced, with almost all students looking at each other in a confused manner, many of them not believing that their sensei was asking them to perform ninjutsu after seeing him perform it just once.

Seeing the students confused face, Iruka raised his hand, "We'll be starting out simple. The Bunshin no Jutsu." Taking a glance at the sheet in his hand, Iruka looked at the raven haired boy in his class, "First up, Uchiha Sasuke. Try it out."

"AAA! Sasuke do your best!"

"You're so cool Sasuke!"

"And Uchiha! He's the elite of the elite!"

With the female population of the class firmly behind him, and to be honest starting to annoy him, Sasuke's face was set in a frown as he made his way forward, reviewing in his mind the correct hand signs and what Iruka had explained about chakra manipulation. But before he could start, something very blonde, and very orange blocked his path.

Her teeth clenched in anger, Naruto's face was twisted in a very cute manner as she wildly pointed as Sasuke, "Grrrr! I can't stand it anymore! The way you act so smug and above us all!" The girl yelled, getting even angrier Sasuke didn't bother shouting back, choosing to cross his arms and listen, "Prove yourself! And then and only then can you brag 'ttebayo!" The girl yelled.

Ino and Sakura's jaw dropped as they couldn't believe that a girl, even if she was Naruto, could be so rude to 'Sasuke-kun'! Iruka's face had turned into a comically outraged expression, but before he could yell anything, Sasuke responded, confidence oozing in his voice,

"I intend to."

Much to Naruto and the other student's shock, the voice didn't come from the Sasuke standing in front of them. Turning around, Naruto's eyes widened as she looked at another Sasuke leaning on a tree, with his smug expression still present.

"W-Whe did you-?" Naruto stammered, her surprise clear in her voice.

Iruka smiled at his student, truly impressed that Sasuke had been able to perform one of the academy three just a few hours after seeing it, "Well done, Sasuke."

The girls let out a collective dreamy sigh as they gushed over the coolness of their crush. Of course, all of this caused Naruto to scowl even harder.

Gritting her teeth, Naruto glared hard at the Sasuke standing over the tree. When did he get the time to make a clone...

Aha! As if a light bulb had switched on in Naruto's mind, she grinned. Yes, that cheater Sasuke must have created the clone in the very beginning. And it was his real self standing at the tree! She will show him!

Running towards the tree, Naruto smirked as she drew back a punch, "With this jutsu, if you attack the real one-!" She yelled as she drove a fist into the face of the smug bastard.

But instead of the sound of hitting flesh, and the teme crying out in pain and then bowing to her mightiness, Naruto was in for a rude surprise as her fist crashed into the thick and hard bark of the tree.

Her eyed widening, Naruto looked with shock as the Sasuke she had hit disappeared in a puff of smoke, "What-!?"

With the sound of a gunshot, and with all of the extra momentum she had gained during her run, her fist proceeded to crash through the tree. Not stopping at the bark, but drilling right through it. Splinters and pieces of wood exploded as she finally stopped, her entire arm stuck inside the tree.

"Aah!" Crying out in pain, and wildly trying to pull herself apart, Naruto made quite a show as her classmates laughed at her folly.

"What an idiot." Sasuke muttered, making Naruto glare towards him from where her hand was stuck.

Valiantly stopping the tears from falling, Naruto tried to ignore the mocking calls and snickers as she pulled her hand apart, tentatively rubbing it. Having run near her, Iruka carefully checked the girl's arm for any signs of damage, letting out a breath at seeing that there wasn't any major one.

But while almost every other kid laughed, one particular pineapple haired boy had completely different thoughts on his mind. Shikamaru didn't miss how Naruto's hand not only hit the tree with surprising quickness, it also proceeded to crash right through it. He was actually quite surprised that their sensei hadn't noticed, and was rather more interested in chewing her out.

"That wasn't very good Naruto!" Iruka scolded, "You could have seriously hurt yourself and your classmates with that reckless behavior! Apologize to Sasuke right now!" He ordered.

Her mouth set pout, Naruto looked at Iruka was watery blue eyes, "But why sensei!"

Iruka gulped. Really, if one put aside the stigma of her being the Jinchūriki, Naruto was damn near the cutest kid he had ever seen. Going against those puppy dog eyes was hard, but then again, Naruto hadn't practiced the look much. So, suppressing the thought, he fixed Naruto with a stern gaze, "You tried to attack him without any provocation. And not only that, but you insulted him as well! Well, now that he has proved himself, don't you have anything to say?"

Her face set in a scowl, Naruto faced Sasuke, "Yeah, I have something to say." She muttered quietly. Iruka smiled with pride. It seemed that Naruto was finally putting her ego aside!

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. Was she actually going to apologize?

But turning Iruka thoughts into tattered paper, with fire in her eyes Naruto extended a fist towards the Uchiha boy, "I will beat you. You hear that? Even if I have to train all day long, I will do it! From today, you are my rival. Dattebyo." The girl announced, staring into the Uchiha's eyes, daring him to deny.

The Uchiha merely chose to smirk.

"Hn. As if you can take me."

OOO

 **A few days later...**

 **Uchiha Clan District...**

Walking with his hands in his pocket, eight year old Sasuke had a contemplative look on his face. The first few days of the academy had gone in a very manner very different from what he had expected.

While Sasuke wasn't actively looking to make friends, he certainly hadn't expected to meet someone like Naruto right on the first day of the academy. From the very beginning, Naruto was... different from the other girls. While Sasuke didn't understand why they tried to so overly support him in everything he did, he could admit that it all was starting to get a bit annoying by the end of the day. After all, there was only so much he could do correctly. Unlike his big bro, who was perfect.

His situation with the boys of his class had been almost similar. Sasuke had been brought up in the clan compound for most of his eight year old life, with only limited forays into the Konoha main. So, while the other kids knew each other from the playgrounds and home visits, Sasuke didn't know them at all. All of them already had playgroups and such, and like any kid, Sasuke felt uncomfortable in intruding.

But in all of this, the one person who had become a recent constant in his life was the loud mouth blonde girl. Challenging him to fights, always sparring against him, and basically stalking him in everything he did at school. Naruto never left him alone. The girl had a very competitive spirit, and with Sasuke as her self proclaimed rival, she had great motivation as well.

Quite surprisingly, Sasuke had liked it. For so long everyone had compared him to his brother, written him off before him, and generally ignored him in favor of his brother. But now, he was getting acknowledged as someone strong, someone worth beating! Sasuke's pride grew at the thought.

"Sasuke-chan!" A shout from the nearby bakery gained his attention.

Sasuke turned with a smile to bow before the elderly couple who ran the shop, "Hello Uncle, Aunty!"

"So, you have joined the academy as well Sasuke-chan? Good for you!" Said the elderly Teyaki, the Uchiha clan symbol on the cloth wrapped around his waist signifying his affiliation, "In no time you will be taking missions with you father and brother!" Teyaki said with a laugh as he passed Sasuke a baked bun, which the boy took with a smile.

"What do you mean with _just_ his 'father and brother'? Mikoto is a very capable jōnin as well!" Uruchi scolded her husband, while smiling at Sasuke at the same time, "Did you have a good time there, Sasuke-chan?"

Sasuke nodded in the affirmative. But looking at the clock inside the shop, the young boy then hastily took his leave, remembering the time his mother had set for arrival at home.

Entering the largest building in the compound, Sasuke arranged his sandals in an orderly manner as he called out, "I'm home!"

"Back already?" Mikoto Uchiha came out from one of the rooms, a bowl in her hand. "Come on Sasuke, I have prepared some snacks."

Quickly getting to the table, Sasuke happily noticed that the snacks were made from different variations of tomato, his favorite kind of food.

"Where's Itachi nii-san?" Sasuke asked, looking around the house for his brother.

Mikoto arranged the snacks and sat down with the cup of tea she had prepared just now, "He's on a mission, Sasuke." She said, but noticing the dissapointed look on Sasuke's face, added, "But I'm sure he'll be back by the evening."

His face brightening at that, Sasuke then turned his attention to the food. "So," His mother started, "How has been your time in school till now, Sasuke?" She asked, smiling at her youngest son.

"Its been okay," Sasuke said, taking a bite of the food, "Iruka-sensei is good, but not as good as Nii-san. We learned how to throw kunai and Shuriken, but I already know that stuff., so it was pretty easy for me." Sasuke said.

"And what about the other kids, did you make any friends?" Mikoto asked, a hopeful look in her eyes.

"Nah," Sasuke replied, immediately making Mikoto groan, "Most of the guys have already made groups and everything, so I can't just include myself. And the girls are really weird." He confessed.

"Weird?"

"Yeah, they just keep on cheering me in everything I do, always say my name and just get angry when I talk to one of them." Sasuke replied.

Mikoto sighed. While she knew that those girls would eventually sober out by their genin days, she could understand how annoying it must be for Sasuke, and unfortunately would remain so until he graduated.

Looking thoughtful, Sasuke hummed in thought, "But there _is_ a really, and by that I mean _really_ strange girl." He added.

Mikoto, whose interest renewed at the new development, raised an eyebrow, "Strange? How?"

"From the first day in the academy, its like she has some kind of grudge with me." The boy began, a confused look on his face, "She keeps challenging me to fights, and even though she loses most of the time, she never backs down! Always tries to answer the questions sensei asks me, and basically keeps insulting me." Sasuke said with a straight face,

Mikoto slowly got a grin on her face as Sasuke continued. All of this was just so clear to the Uchiha clan member. The girl had a crush on her Sasu-chan, but was hiding it by acting all angry towards him! Such cases were always the ones with the most potential. Hmm, maybe Mikoto would have to meet this girl by herself.

"Continue, Sasuke." Mikoto said, her mind already making many teasing statements that would embarrass her child.

"Then, when he loses in a spar, she just yells that she 'will show me' and that she 'will become Hokage!' What's up with that?" Sasuke asked rhetorically.

A foreboding coming over her highly trained senses, and her face turning pale, Mikoto almost spat out her tea as she looked at Sasuke in disbelief, "B-Become Hokage?" She choked out, before continuing when Sasuke nodded, "What does she look like?" She asked, making use of her veteran ninja skills to maintain the nonchalant expression.

His brow creasing in confusion as to why his mother wanted to know Naruto looked like, Sasuke shrugged it off before answering, "Well, she has bright blonde hair," Mikoto gulped, "blue eyes," Double gulp, "And you won't believe it, but she has whisker marks on her cheek!" Sasuke finished.

Mikoto's face had lost all expression, and her pupils were diluted. A single face was on her mind. A single face who was her best friend. Blonde hair, blue eyes, violent nature and whisker marks. All of these things added to just one fact in her mind.

Minato and Kushina's daughter. Naruto Uzumaki.

Sasuke, being the perceptive child that he was, immediately noticed the far off look on his mother's face, "Kaa-san? Are you even listening?" The child asked in annoyance as his mother shook herself out of her reverie.

Taking a few seconds to compose herself, Mikoto looked at Sasuke, "Please continue, Sasuke." While Sasuke couldn't understand it, the need for more detail was evident in her mother's voice.

" _What was that all about?"_ Sasuke thought, but shrugged it off and continued, "And as I was saying, she really like the color orange. Not that I care or anything, its just that she shouts out almost everything she likes,"

"Great," Mikoto thought, "Naruto would obviously like the color which is the mixture of both of her parents hair color..." Orange equals Red plus Yellow.

"And you know, she has the strange verbal tick..." Sasuke murmured thoughtfully.

Mikoto's eyes, if anything, widened even further. "Oh please no..."

"Its like... Dattebayo?"

That's it. Mikoto buried her face in her hands.

Kushina had really created a clone of herself. Or at least her personality. Bar the appearance, everything in the girl screamed 'Mini- Aka no Shi'.

And she had taken an interest in her Sasuke.

Mikoto could only imagine the insanity that was sure in the days to come.

OOO

 **The next few months...**

The next few month passed in a jiffy for Iruka's batch. With all of the students putting in their full attendances in the starting year, the class was never empty. Theoretical classes were going on in full force, with the first semester exams just about to start. The children were taught about the history of the village they were a part of. How it came to be, and who were its leaders.

Hashirama Senju, Madara Uchiha, Tobirama Senju, Hiruzen Sarutobi and Minato Namikaze.

These five names were the ones which had been drilled into the brains of the students. The first two being the founders of the hidden leaf, and thus very important. Also expanded upon was the basic uses of chakra, what it was and how to use it.

The academy three were taught to every student, well, at least the hand signs. As of now, only a few of the students were able to perform even two of them. And performing didn't mean mastery. Still, they were not expected to master the jutsu at least until their graduation, it was still imperative that they were made to practice at least once a week.

But perhaps the most important thing was the physical portion of the academy.

Most of the kids had never even run a hundred meters in one sprint, so for them to get accustomed to the way of the ninja was a very hard challenge. Iruka and the other instructors had their hands full of fatigued, injured and collapsed shinobi prospects every time an extended training session was started.

Blunt and wooden kunai and shuriken were distributed among the students. The eight year olds then proceeded to learn about the best ways of throwing these deadly weapons, and how to hit them in the most lethal way possible. Of course, this was all sugar coated to not make it appear as such, but still.

It was during this time that the difference between civilian and ninja children became evident. Students like Sakura aced the theoretical portions, but utterly tanked the physical exercises and such. While students like Kiba Inuzuka impressed the most. And the less said about the ninken controller's theory, the better.

Naruto proved herself to be one of the best in any and all physical and stamina base challenges. Ruthlessly challenging Sasuke in each and every action he took, Naruto's happiness knew no bounds as she beat Sasuke in the marathon run. Teasing the boy to a murderous extent, Naruto was then handed her ass in the next spar, where Sasuke looked extra motivated.

Indeed, the Uchiha boy's own competitive spirit had awoken by his shocking defeat to his rival. Sasuke almost wanted to use the Gōkakyū just to one up Naruto, but then decided that using something like that would not just be overkill, it would also be a cop out. Naruto didn't have a clan to teach, heck, from what Sasuke had seen, she didn't even have a family.

In the beginning, Sasuke too had the mindset of not hitting girls too hard and sparring with them less roughly, being a gentleman and all that.

One jaw breaking punch from Naruto had driven away all those misconceptions

While she didn't realize it now, Naruto was the happiest she had ever been in her life. Unlike the other times when she just wandered about aimlessly, doing silly pranks to bring some amount of fullness to her life. But now? She had a purpose, she had an aim.

Beating Sasuke Uchiha to a pulp.

Undoubtedly the least girly girl in her class, Naruto had rapidly become the source of jealousy for each and every girl for the attention she received from Sasuke. Being accustomed to being seen that way, Naruto didn't look too much into it.

But gradually, in the course of eight months or so, things stated slowly changing between Sasuke and Naruto. The two almost nine year old were still as fierce rivals as before, but much to everyone's shock, even engaged in a civilized conversation once. Iruka almost fell off his seat.

Never mind that the conversation was, "Do you have an extra pencil, teme?", "Hn."

Still, a civilized conversation between the two. Wow.

And so, things went on pretty well for ten months. The class became acquainted with each other. Some pretty big changes happened, one of which being that Sakura and Ino were no longer friends, but rivals for whatever reason. And many things remained normal. Sakura still aced. Shikamaru still remained average, Akamaru's peeing enraged Iruka every day and Naruto and Sasuke's thing continued. Naruto had also made a kind of friend in Hinata Hyūga, the shy blue haired girl sometimes taking the time to sit with the usually alone Naruto at lunch, although such instances were extremely rare due to her getting constant warnings from Ko, her bodyguard.

That is, until that day.

OOO

 **Ten months later...**

 **Academy sparring grounds...**

With a mild amount of clouds in the sky, and the afternoon sun high up, it was another typical day in Konoha Academy. Twenty eight children were lined up in various inter-gender groups. Iruka stood in the middle of a lined area, made for sparring.

"The last match for today, Naruto Uzumaki vs..." Here, Iruka hesitated, worryingly looking towards the person whose name was there, only to meet a cold stare, "Sasuke Uchiha."

A hush fell on the ground as Sasuke's name was called. Most of the kids already knew the reason, but Naruto was blissfully unknowing of anything other than her rival had returned after a one week absence.

Walking forward with a grin, Naruto faced Sasuke, whom she noted with some confusion that he looked much more serious today. His eyes were wide, his nostrils flared with every breath he took and his stance was the most rigid she had ever known.

But being who she was, the cheerful girl shrugged off these changes as she took a stance, "It good to have you back Sasuke... beating all of the other kids was not really that much of a challenge, ya know." But when Sasuke didn't respond to her speech, not even moving a muscle to take a fighting stance... Naruto felt herself slightly getting worried.

Taking one last look at Sasuke, and his entire body going to overdrive to interfere if it became necessary, Iruka raised both of his hands simultaneously, "Hajime!"

"Get ready to get beat up!" Naruto yelled as she started her run. B

But before she could even take three steps in that direction, she was violently hit in the sternum with a bullet like punch. While she would have taken such a hit no problem, immediately after the punch her whole body was thrown towards the ground with concussive force.

`The thing is, all of this happened in a split second.

So, for Naruto it was as if she had started her run, and was now underneath Sasuke. And in a whole lot of pain.

The raven haired boy had an outstretched punch, with her in the weak position. It was a technical victory for Sasuke, and Iruka announced as much.

But for Naruto, it was not the loss that mattered. It was the fact that Sasuke didn't even look at her as he beat her. Looking into his eyes... it was as if they were filled with nothing but hatred. But not for herself, no. This hatred, for whomever it was, was infinitely beyond whatever she had ever suffered from the villagers.

What had happened to Sasuke in this one week?

OOO

The Uchiha Clan Massacre.

When Naruto found out about it by overhearing one of the boys in her class, she couldn't explain the feeling that she was getting. It was such a sudden information. Sasuke's entire family dead? As in the Uchiha clan which founded the village? The Military Police, she later learned, were all Sasuke's family. So they were dead too? The young men and women who had caught her so many times, with whom she had so many fun chases with... all of them dead? How was it possible?

It all seemed so surreal to the young girl.

After seeing Sasuke alone at his district gate, Naruto couldn't help but feel some... some amount of happiness. Yes, she knew that it was wrong, and would never wish that to happen to anyone else, but she couldn't help but think that now she wasn't the only one who was alone!

It gave Naruto some sense of happiness that couldn't be explained to someone who hadn't suffered from loneliness as she had. It was not something she could explain in words without seeming to be insensitive to Sasuke's pain.

Naruto wanted to talk to him, to tell him that he was not the only one, that she was all alone too! But a multitude of things, including, but not limited to, the fact that Sasuke now consistently beat her at everything, and basically turned emotionless, lead to Naruto not ever speaking to him. Not to mention Sasuke had grown so extensively distant from everyone in the month following the massacre.

Naruto, for her part, despite wanting to become Sasuke's friend, couldn't allow him to beat her at every match in such a humiliating manner. No matter how things got, Naruto hated losing.

So, it was after one of such intense days of training that Naruto was making her way home on an alternate route passing over the Naka river.

With the sun having barely gone down the sky, bathing the world in shades of orange, red and yellow, and making her blonde hair shine even more than usual, Naruto's mood was fairy happy as she drudged down the road in her dirt stained clothes. Having practiced extra hard today, Ramen was the only thing on the blonde girl's mind as she made a mental image of the biggest Ichiraku Ramen she could get.

However, walking further forward, her eye met with a very surprising sight. There, sitting on the minor pier on Naka River, was no one other than than her rival, and the last Uchiha, Sasuke.

Seeing Sasuke stare out towards the horizon, Naruto felt much sympathy for the boy, but with her pride coming in the way, stubbornly decided to keep walking on forward. But with her being the only one other than Sasuke on the partly deserted road, Naruto's fast walking gained Sasuke's attention, who glanced back.

As if fate had it in for them, Naruto's eyes drifted in that direction at the same time. Their eyes met for but a second, blue meeting black, light meeting dark. But it was in that _one_ single second, that both Naruto and Sasuke understood more about each other than they would ever need to say.

No words were needed.

Maintaining outward appearances, both of them turned away from the other with an annoyed expression, but could not stop the small smile from coming onto their face.

OOO

 **Author's Note:** So, here it is. What are your thoughts? Did I portray the two characters properly, or did I get carried away? Please point out my mistakes, since they are the only things that would make me stop making them and thus stop annoying you.

As you can see, the Uchiha Clan Massacre happened a bit later in this story. I do not think that it is really that consequential. Please note that the last sentence of this chapter **does not** have a romantic sense. It is just two orphaned kids with no one in the world who seem to find solace in their similar scenarios. Next chapter will be a time skip. Naruto might be similar to canon, she might be not.

As for FemNaru, if you wish to imagine her, just think about Naruto's sexy jutsu, but clothed. Her color palette is still the same.


End file.
